Mind vs Matter

by LupoMikti

Chapter 2: Preparations

"Divine Rejection, Level 2: Basic denial of a powerful spell.”

The voice, and its accompanying command, came from the entrance to the throne-room-turned-battlefield. Dreamer was held in place briefly while his spell's effects were blocked and prevented, his hoof hovering the air where it pointed directly at the Princesses. They, too, were beyond any emotion that could be described as shocked, stunned or surprised.

When Dreamer had full control of his body once more, he slowly lowered the protruding limb back to the floor and calmly stared at the newcomer. The two sisters that had just escaped a less than appealing fate stood to face the unknown pony as well. They trotted off to the side and watched, expressionless, as they took a good look at their savior.

Before the gathered party stood yet another alicorn. He was young, as far as alicorns go, but was actually exactly the same size as Luna, if only having a slightly bulkier build as a male. The older alicorns present could tell that he would grow to at least Celestia's size given another thousand years or so. He had a light rust orange coat color and simple black mane. Really, the most defining features he possessed - besides his intricate cutie mark - were his vibrant but piercing grass green eyes and the single stripe of the same color that ran through his tail.

But it was the cutie mark that Dreamer had recognized first and foremost. It was what appeared to be the planet as it would be viewed from the stars, half lit up, half in darkness. The ice caps, the land, and the water were all perfectly placed and shaped in what one could only assume was Equis. Around the half that was day what appeared to be the corona of the sun acted as a halo of flames and the night portion was surrounded by a more purple, and softer, hue as one could find on a clear summer evening. Lastly, as if to tie it all together, was a background symbol in the shape of the sign for infinity.

"You. Of all the possible ways these two could have been saved, it had to be you, Terra. Or should I say, Terra's reincarnation? No matter. It seems that I am being given a chance to know when I have been bested. I would hazard a guess that you could not use your divine power again, but why chance it? I am nearly at my full power once more, and after a bit of searching, I will be able to implement my plans with ease. So I bid you all a good day, for soon enough, every day will be a good day."

With that last statement, Dreamer vanished with an audible pop as he teleported to some place far away from the palace. The tension in the room vanished but was replaced with foreboding as they all realized that the most powerful threat the world of Terras had encountered in millennia was free to do as he pleased.

---

Heavy panting could be heard throughout the room as the Princesses all but collapsed on the floor. Terra made his way over to the exhausted rulers of Equestria. As he looked around he assessed the damage that had been done. There was a large, still molten hot, hole in one wall, a shallow crater riddled with large and minute cracks in the center of the hall, each window had been shattered gloriously, tapestry was set on fire, and to top it off, dark magic was still lingering in the air and attempting to coalesce into a portal to another dimension. “This has to be taken care of quickly,” Terra noted. He came to a stop before the Princesses and did the one thing an alicorn would never expect of another alicorn: he bowed.

“Your Highnesses, I ask that you allow me to quickly heal your injuries. There is little time and much to do.”

“Yes, that does seem to be the proper course of action. We can discuss things in detail shortly thereafter,” Celestia responded, still gasping for air and sweating almost profusely.

“Then I shall begin at once. Divine Rejection, Level 1: Rejection of Injury and Fatigue, Advanced Stage.”

Once more a circle of magic was drawn, this one below the Princesses and a light green color. A transparent white light shot up from it and began to heal any wounds that covered the Princesses’ bodies while simultaneously replenishing their strength. The process took no more than thirty seconds and soon the two celestial sisters were standing again.

They now turned to face Terra, intending to deal with the situation at hand before the one at large. Celestia made her way over to him, Luna close behind, and set her expression as one of neutrality, preparing to deal with anything this stranger threw at her.

“We thank you for your assistance...”

“Terra. My name is Terra Omnes Vivat IV. I take it you’ve heard this name before, but truthfully, I hate it like the predecessor just before me. She liked to call herself Soil Work. I like the name Soil Born. But it is up to you what you decide to call me.”

Terra had said all of this as if he hadn’t just saved the lives of the rulers of Equestria, and was introducing himself to some ponies he met at a sporting event. Not once did he look at either of the sisters while speaking. Instead, he elected to stare out a window, watching the progression of the sun in the sky.

“Well then, Terra, I know we are pressed for time, but would you please enlighten us as to the reason you are here? I mean, never before has the Alicorn of Nature made an attempt to contact us or get involved with anything having to do with Equestria. At one point early in our rule, I commissioned a search team to find her, but gave up after a decade of empty results. Why have you now, and as a reincarnation to top it off, decided to reveal yourself?”

Terra merely looked at the solar princess with a stoic visage to match the sternness she was giving him. A few more seconds passed before he answered.

“We are pressed for time, so I’ll try to keep this short. I understand that you have a right to these answers and I will not deny them to you.”

“Thank you.”

“As you know, there are other alicorns besides just us three and Dreamer. It was his first defeat that resulted in our diminished numbers. After he was sent to who-knows-where, the Alicorns of Time, Innovation, Health, Fate, and Luck were sealed away in stone. Nature, Day, Night, and Death escaped the same fate, but at a price. Day and Night, your parents, were allowed to remain alive only long enough to see your births and first century of life. Death was resigned to be locked away as King of Tartaros and guide to the afterlife, and some time after that, he lost his influence over war. Terra II was to be reincarnated.

"You strove to create a great nation and unite the ponies of the lands under one banner. Soil Work saw your efforts and wished to assist in them. However, it wasn't long before she found out that, albeit during your time as an unrelenting tactician, you were planning on using her and her power to win certain war efforts quickly. Knowing her place in the world, she took affront to this and avoided all contact with you or your sister, and continued to do the duty set forth by The Creator.

"Then things began going south from there. The belief that she had abandoned the only other alicorns left in this world and let thousands of ponies die in a war she could have ended ate away at her mentality for as long as she lived. When events began to spiral out of control little more than a thousand years ago, she convinced herself it was all her fault; the Crystal Empire, Discord’s Terror, and even Nightmare Moon were included.

"And so, about 250 years ago, she developed a way to force the reincarnation using her power, to escape the guilt and pain. That is when I was ‘born’. I spent the first century or so learning to control my powers and what my duty was through the memories of my predecessors. After that, I contemplated revealing my existence to you, but thought it best to keep it hidden. You two are busy running what can only be described as an empire. I did not want to burden you further.

"However, around two days ago, the foresight granted to me by my power to prevent unnatural occurrences, warned me about a dimensional rift appearing here. Over these two days, more supernatural and unnatural phenomena have occurred than in the past three months, and so I only had enough Divine spell power left to use when I arrived for three Level 2's, or one Level 1 and one Level 2. I can no longer use that power for another month while it recharges.”

Terra watched as the larger Princess turned to look out the window as well, as if she was making a tough decision. The solid silence continued uninterrupted for some minutes more before a reply was given. With a measured tone and steel resolve, Celestia made her thoughts known.

“Your explanation will have to suffice for now. We must prepare to give chase to Dreamer. If what you say is true, and you cannot use your ultimate power for a month, then our only hope is to venture out and gather the Alicorns of Life once more. Though there is a problem: neither I nor my sister have knowledge of the locations of the shrines where they are sealed, and I believe this is because I erased the information from my memory. My only guess as to where we should start is by going to the King of Tartaros, the Alicorn of Death & the Afterlife.

"Luna, I need you to send out a summons for Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. It would be best if you send for Twilight too. As for you, Terra, I have a few more things I need to discuss with you.”

“I’ll see to it that they all arrive swiftly. It will be fastest if I retrieve them all myself. I will return shortly.” At her last word, Luna teleported from the presence of the other alicorns to fulfill her charge. An awkward silence settled in for several seconds before Celestia started up the conversation once more.

“Thank you, for saving us earlier,” she began in a more sincere tone. “I know it must have been difficult for you to use so much of your power in one instance to get here and fend off Dreamer.”

“Your thanks is appreciated, Princess.” Terra kept his gaze affixed on the scenery out the nearby window. He loved to watch nature, in all of its glory and unpredictability, knowing he was the only one that brought order to it. Celestia couldn’t help but wonder what went through his mind when he zoned out like that, so she decided to pick at it by changing the topic to something more friendly.

“I think I’d rather you just call my sister and I by our names. It feels, weird, for another alicorn as powerful as us to address us so formally.” Terra’s expression immediately lit up as if he had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Feigning surprise, he accepted Celestia’s little jab.

“Oh? In that case would you prefer to be called by your true name? Although, Sol Ignis Die Caelum is a bit of a mouthful, wouldn’t you agree?.” Celestia seemed to get a kick out of Terra’s sudden jovial manner. She even giggled a bit. So Terra continued his display of wit to keep the discussion from straying too far into depressing territory.

“If that’s all it takes to get a laugh out of you I have no idea how you keep a straight face with politicians around you all the time. If there’s one good thing that’ll come from this development, it’s that you’ll be able to get away from it all for a while.” His last words seemed to have hit upon something that didn’t sit well with the Bringer of the Day. Her face morphed from one of slight joy to the look of dread that had been present earlier.

“This is no vacation, Terra. You above all other beings should realize what’s at stake. For my sister and I, we do what we must to protect our country and the ponies that inhabit it above even that. For you, though, it is much more than that. You alone have the responsibility of protecting all of existence with what limited power you have. This is why I thank you for your aid, for using that power to protect us.”

“All the more reason to keep a good mood,” he said in good stride, not missing a beat as he quickly responded to her statement. “I’ve only been at this for a quarter century. If it weren’t for the memories of the previous Alicorns of Nature, I wouldn’t even know the true feeling of having the weight of the universe on my back. And now we have this problem to deal with. I can only use that power fifteen times in a month, which I’ve accomplished over just these past few days, and it’s the middle of this one. You know what his plan is, right?”

“Yes, I do. I also know that we have time before he can implement it. We need to use that time to gather the other alicorns and prepare to fight him off. But it will not be easy or smooth sailing. While I cannot recall the locations of the shrines, I do know that before purging the information from my mind, I set up and commissioned numerous defenses to keep others from finding whatever was hidden within and using the power… unwisely. Those defenses were designed to keep even the strongest of alicorns away. But I believe our friend down in Tartaros may be able to help us in that regard.”

“Then we should be heading out soon. Luckily, it seems Luna is back from her task.”

As he just predicted due to a bit of sensory magic, Luna teleported into the room mere seconds after the statement was made. With her now were Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Twilight Sparkle. Each seemed mildly confused as to the nature of their summons but knew there had to be a good reason for the short notice.

After a short bow to get pleasantries out of the way, Twilight led off the conversation with the question the three newcomers wanted an answer to.

“Princess Celestia, it’s so good to see you. It must be months since we last met. But I have to admit this is a little unexpected. Why have you brought all three of us here, and why did Princess Luna come to get us herself, and who is that pony standing next to you?”

Her questions were each straightforward, but when she noticed a slate gray unicorn stallion with a white mane and tail standing nearby, she couldn’t stop herself from asking who he was even if she wanted to.

“Twilight, this is – Terra, why are you in disguise?” she questioned upon seeing his current appearance as well.

“Oh, sorry Celestia. I guess this is just force of habit from having to hide my presence for so many years. Give me a sec and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Please, do.”

With that Terra began his transformation back into his true alicorn form. There was no fancy light show accompanying it, but the shock on the faces of the extra ponies present was more than enough to make up for it.

“B-But, who, h-how, where, when, why!?” was all Twilight managed to get out before her brother stepped in to take the lead of the conversation.

“I think what she’s trying to say is, who are you?”

“Formally: my name is Terra Omnes Vivat IV. I am the Alicorn of Nature, Structure & Existence, upholder of all things natural and right in the world; suppressor of anything supernatural and within the natural bounds of universal law but too powerful for mortals to know of at the current moment in time; and Exterminator of everything deemed unnatural and wrong that comes into existence of this world. But you can call me Terra or Soil Born.”

Everyone in attendance, including the Princesses, stood slack-jawed at the title he had just spewed out. Terra stayed where he was with nothing but a small smile across his face as the silence continued. Finally Celestia spoke up to explain why everyone was here and what was going on.

---

“So let me get this straight. An ancient evil alicorn that controls the mind has returned after his uncertain defeat at the hooves of a previous generation of alicorns that the three of you are descended from and now you have to go and find these alicorns, unseal them, and unite to defeat this evil or else many horrible things that will lead to the end of all existence as we know it will happen. Also, I am the product of residual magic from the first alicorn whom you all refer to as The Creator. Great.”

After explaining the situation to Shining, Cadance and Twilight, Celestia felt obliged to tell Cadance why she exists separately from the Alicorns of Life. She did not take to it kindly.

“And now you want Cadance and I to run the affairs of Equestria while you’re away saving the universe?” Shining added in equal disdain and disbelief. They looked to Twilight to hear her reaction to the news as well. She quickly glanced at all of the faces around her before replying.

“Well, it all sounds about right to me considering everything I’ve had to go through. It is a little unsettling knowing the Elements of Harmony are actual pieces of a previous living being, but that explains why they inhabit other living beings well enough. As for my take on this, can I get that history of how the universe was created in writing? It would make a great book or creation myth.”

Once more the room went silent with only the metaphorical sound of rusty hinges creaking as jaws fell open briefly. Terra was quick to recover the situation though.

“Um, sure, I guess. I don’t see any harm in that once this is all over.”

“Great! I can’t wait. But one last thing. Princess, what’s my purpose in being here? If you only wanted to inform Shining and Cadance of having to take care of things for a while, why did you summon me?” Celestia grinned a warm smile before leaning down to the unicorn to give her answer.

“If there is any other pony in all of Equestria that knows more about Equestrian politics than any current politician in office just because she reads history and law books for fun, then may we fail this mission miserably and never return. You will be assisting Shining and Cadance in keeping the country running while making sure news of Dreamer stays in this room, during this conversation, right now.”

“Oh, right. You can count on us, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied with confidence.

“Great! Now that that’s settled, can we please get going to the gates of Tartaros? Every second wasted is another one gained for Dreamer,” Terra said chastely.

“Yes, we should be on our way, sister,” Luna added. “Time is of the essence.”

“Alright, you two have a point. We leave everything to you three. Oh, and one last thing,” she began as she trotted over to where Luna and Terra were standing readying a teleportation spell, “Luna and I have found a way to choose our reincarnations if they are still alive. Twilight, if you become an alicorn then know we truly have failed. But have faith, it should not come to that.”

One bright flash of light later and only three ponies were left in the throne room with minutes before open court. Two of them headed up to the thrones to ready themselves for the onslaught of questions headed their way. The third, however,…

“What?”

Comments

[MerlosTheMad]

Sire, I don't think I've ever seen a fic this old and gone this unnoticed while still being a good read.

My condolences.

[LupoMikti]

2087939

It happens, and thanks for giving it a shot. I'm really just glad to be able to write it.

[MerlosTheMad]

2087945

Well unless this happens to you-

Then you should be safe man.